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Tuesday, December 26, 2023
hello to Peters sisters families (aka aunts, uncles, cousins etc)
My hand- crafted Christmas cards have become so time-consuming I can only send one per extended family so I hope this one that reaches the spee household will be passed around eventually and maybe you'll take a look at this website. Has a lot but not all my pics from my exploration years in Washington State. Although it doesn't go back yet to the original times when I would drive up there still in seminary and having only been there once or twice in my life so everything was new to me going up interstate 5 through Oregon.
I was doing that around Christmas for a few years and making videos and doing little anonymous acts of kindness and gift-giving. Maybe some of you found something on your doorstep around Christmas. But then last year 2022 I really did some in-depth hiking in the Olympics NP as well as Cascades, and also (previously) the hugely popular Mt Si ( that seems to be like a must-do mecca trek for everybody growing up around Seattle).
Unfort, I lost some really good pictures because one of my camera phones got wet and I couldn't rehab it. Also you'll see some pics here from 2018 including hiking around Mount Rainier. And check back periodically . I might find some more to add to it.
I've been trying to describe to Linda Mom about how incredible some of the hikes are in Washington State. And she doesn't seem to be able to comprehend it. Neither of them are too much into hiking and outdoor stuff. But I hear that Jim as a young man with his dad hiked Mount Baldy here near Los Angeles. Linda mom has not done much hiking although she did do Half Dome with us as a family at Yosemite several decades ago.
And I've only been able to briefly show her a few photos. I hope to give her a better slideshow or photo show one of these days if I can get her to slow down and enjoy the moment and see how much beauty there is up there at the top of the Cascades and Olympics.
And I hope all is well for everybody in Olympia. Thank you for your cards and letters. I really do appreciate them. Also, by the way, I think Linda's doing much better than she was earlier this year when she was going through covid and I sent out an email because I was highly concerned about her and nobody was around to help out. So I made a point of stopping in a little more often to check on them & I was glad to hear that some of you are also in contact with them on a regular basis.
Then, upon return from northern Cal a month ago I was surprised to find my sister at the house in Bellflower. I hadn't seen her in a while. And, what do you know she also now has covid, or had covid at the time I was there (shortly before Thanksgiving). It's unbelievable. And I was concerned about her being around Jim and Linda but they did not seem too highly concerned about it I guess.
All four of us took a trip to the Getty. And I showed them around Los Angeles a little bit since I have a good familiarity now with the greater LA area having been a substitute teacher for over 10 years (for LAUSD) while going through seminary and then afterwards for a little while as I was starting my own ministry . I am able to navigate LA/OC without using Google maps etc.
Then I took another trip back up north and when I returned sister was back in Michigan as best as I can tell. Hope she's doing better, feeling better. She stayed for more than a month surprisingly in Bellflower . And now brother Andrew has arrived for the Christmas break.
This year was going great up until mid July then all of a sudden I experienced vehicle issues coming back from a trip all the way to New York & the Niagara falls. Since that time it's been non-stop big and small repairs to keep my mission vehicle going.
And I've learned so much about these new computer engines, more than I really wanted to know but had to start doing some research on my own. Fortunately, contrary to what I was told as I was passing through Casper Wyoming, I did NOT actually need a new transmission. Simply, all I needed was new transmission fluid. You can say this transmission shop was either ignorant or fraudulent. I'll leave it up to you to decide.
Meanwhile, AmeriPrayer ministry continues! I continue to pray and continue to grow, little by little, in TRULY BELIEVING in the Power of Prayer.
I also mentioned previously the Peters Papers. I spent half a day in the Calvin library in June taking photos of the Leo Peters file. Check back here later and I might be able to make a link for it so you can view those papers yourself. Linda mom did not find them very interesting.
And here's the link: http://leopeterspapers.blogspot.com/
Or for an alternative viewing format, try this PDF link 🔗 . It's the best I could do with a handheld device.
Also also this summer I found Grandma Helen's burial place for the first time in my life, which you might find surprising given we grew up less than a mile from where she's buried. And it's literally right across from where I played Little League. All the time we lived there I don't know why my mom never wanted to show us that burial place but maybe it just would bring up too many emotions that she did not want to re-live.
Then, later in the journey I also found the burial place for some others of the Peters clan in Wellsville New York. And still later going back westward also in Washington Indiana. Fascinating. The grave in Wellsville was so overflowing with lichens and moss, I had to wonder when was the last time somebody had been there. I took the time to clean it off. It looked much better after I left.
Lots more to talk about, but I have to pause at the moment. Check back here later I might add some more to it. And Merry Christmas !
Here's some other links you may enjoy
(all photos by me):
Friday, December 22, 2023
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